§ 16. Mr. Croninasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, in view of the increasing number of small children brought into hospitals severely injured as the result of assaults by their parents, what measures he will propose to improve this situation.
§ Dr. John DunwoodyMy right hon. Friends the Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Social Services intend to issue guidance to local health and children's authorities and are considering the form it should take.
§ Mr. CroninWould it not be more helpful if my hon. Friend were to introduce measures to make it obligatory for doctors to report all such cases as this to an appropriate child protection society?
§ Dr. DunwoodyI realise that this battered baby syndrome is notifiable in some countries abroad but I am not convinced that it would help to solve this difficult problem here. What we could do, in conjunction with the societies to which my hon. Friend refers, is to inform those medical practitioners, such as general practitioners and casualty officers, who are most likely to deal with these cases. I pay tribute to the work which the N.S.P.C.C. has done in this field.
§ Sir G. NabarroHow does the Minister propose to deal with the phenomenon that most of the bestial cases occur while the parents are listening to and watching television in the evenings and beating their children up for interfering with their pleasure? How can a doctor deal with a situation of that kind?
§ Dr. DunwoodyThe position is not as simple as the hon. Gentleman makes out. These cases usually arise in severely disturbed families. It is nothing to do with television. There is an important preventive aspect of this work; namely, ensuring that these cases are recognised and the unfortunate children—and their brothers and sisters—are not injured again in the future.